Science Response 2014/029

4VWX Herring 2014 Update Report

Context

Maritimes DFO Resource Management has requested that DFO Science provide an update on the science advice for 4VWX Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus) management unit in support of the 2013/2014 fishery. The last assessment of 4VWX herring was conducted in March 2013 (DFO 2013). The biological and fishery information of the 4VWX herring forms the basis for establishing quota for the 2013/2014 fisheries, as required in the Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP). This response reviews and updates biological and fishery information on 4VWX herring stock including an evaluation of the southwest Nova Scotia / Bay of Fundy spawning component, a compilation and review of information regarding the offshore Scotian Shelf spawning component and the coastal Nova Scotia spawning component, an update on southwest New Brunswick migrant juvenile fishery component, and an evaluation of the status of the fishery with respect to the conservation Limit Reference Point. In addition, it provides advice on the recovery and rebuilding of 4VWX herring, and reviews whether the goals of the rebuilding plan are being met.

The 2003 (Evergreen) Scotia-Fundy Herring IFMP set out principles, conditions, and management measures for the 4VWX herring fisheries (DFO 2003). The main principle stated in the plan is “the conservation of the herring resource and the preservation of all of its spawning components”. The three conservation objectives are: to maintain the reproductive capacity of herring in each management unit, to prevent growth overfishing, and to maintain ecosystem integrity/ecological relationships (“ecosystem balance”). Progress against these conservation objectives was evaluated in the March 2013 assessment (DFO 2013). A major review of the assessment framework was conducted in 2006/07 (DFO 2007) followed by a framework meeting in 2011. No model was chosen but recommendations for the assessment were provided in the report (DFO 2011). In 2012, a conservation limit reference point of 377,272t, the average spawning biomass in Scots Bay and German Bank for the period 2005-2010, was set (Clark et al. 2012). The total spawning biomass in these two areas is evaluated based on the three-year moving average with respect to this limit reference point.

This Science Response Report results from the Science Response Process March 2014, on the “Update of 4VWX Herring”.

Complete document (PDF, 573 KB)

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